Kentucky's 5th congressional district

Kentucky's 5th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Kentucky. Located in the heart of Appalachia in Southeastern Kentucky, the rural district is the second most impoverished district in the nation[5] and, as of the 2010 U.S. Census, has the highest percentage of White Americans in the nation. Within the district are the economic leading cities of Pikeville, Prestonsburg, Middlesboro, Hazard, Jackson, Morehead, London, and Somerset. It is the most rural district in the United States, with 76.49% of its population in rural areas.[6]

Kentucky's 5th congressional district
Kentucky's 5th congressional district - since January 3, 2013.
Representative	Hal Rogers R–Somerset
Distribution	76.49% rural[1] 23.51% urban
Population (2019)	689,793[2]
Median household income	$35,636[3]
Ethnicity	95.9% White 1.4% Black 1.2% Hispanic 0.8% Two or more races 0.4% Asian 0.3% other
Cook PVI	R+33[4]

Sign in front of the McCracken, Kentucky Courthouse (in Paducah, Kentucky) commemorating early members of the U.S. House of Representatives representing Jackson Purchase (U.S. historical region). The "First District" in the title actually changed over time. It refers to the Jackson Purchase, which was in the 5th district from 1819 to 1823, the 12th district until 1833, and then the 1st district until the end of the sign's lineage in 1855.

With a Cook Partisan Voting Index rating of R+33, it is the most Republican district in Kentucky and tied with Texas's 13th as the second most Republican district in the country.[4] The 5th congressional district is one of the few ancestrally Republican regions south of the Ohio River. Much of the region now in the district strongly supported the Union in the Civil War, and identified with the Republicans after hostilities ceased. By contrast, the northeastern portion of the district borders West Virginia. Much of this section of the district was once part of the disbanded 7th congressional district, long a Democratic stronghold. The 7th was disbanded in 1992 after the 1990 census showed that the state's population no longer merited seven districts. Geographically, the district consists of flat land areas to the west, to Appalachia highland mountains to the east and southeast. To the north and northeast of the district are rolling hills that end at the Ohio River.

Despite the district's strong Republican lean, it features the county of Elliott, which, before being carried by Donald Trump in 2016, had never voted for a Republican president since its founding in 1869, making it the longest Democratic voting streak. The county had not voted for the district's current representative, Hal Rogers, who except for 1992 has always been elected by at least 65%, before 2018, when he received 54.6% of the county's vote.

The district is represented by Republican Harold D. "Hal" Rogers, the dean of the Kentucky delegation. Rogers serves in various leadership positions in the U.S. House of Representatives.